Plant a Garden that Attracts Birds
and Butterflies
There
are few things more dreamy than a beautiful garden--except a beautiful
garden teeming with gorgeous birds and butterflies! You can add
to your garden’s beauty by planting flowers, shrubs and trees that
provide food and shelter for birds and butterflies.
Here’s
a snapshot of some plants you can incorporate into your garden:
Flowers for Birds
Birds
go crazy for the seed heads on coneflowers, and they go really crazy
for the seeds on sunflowers!
Nectar Plants for Hummingbirds
People
are just fascinated by hummingbirds!
You
can also set out a special hummingbird feeder; they sport a bright red
lid or bright red flowers for the birds to sip from. Fill the
feeder with sugar water, which is one part sugar to four parts water. You
can boil the mixture or simply use the hottest tap water possible so
that the sugar dissolves. Drain and wash the feeder with warm soap
and water every three to four days, and refill it with fresh sugar water. You
may even see hummingbirds fighting over feeder territory or swooping
up and down in mating rituals.
Vines for Birds
If
you have wild strawberry vine in your lawn, you may spot birds plucking
the tiny sweet fruits to eat!
Shrubs for Birds
Shrubs
not only provide food for birds, but cover from predators, as well. Larger
birds, such as hawks, are known to swoop down on feeders to prey on smaller
birds, especially in winter when other food sources are scarce.
Trees for Birds
Nectar Plants for Butterflies
Butterflies
are such beautiful creatures that they sip flower nectar for nourishment!
- Butterfly milkweed and other milkweeds
Plants for Caterpillars
Don’t
squish that worm! It may be the larval stage of a soon-to-be beautiful
butterfly. These plants provide important habitat for caterpillars;
you’ll have even more gorgeous butterflies gracing your garden!
- Butterfly milkweed and other milkweeds
If
you want to attract as many birds and butterflies as possible to your
garden, give native plants priority over non-native plants when you’re
making your selections at the garden store. You’ll also want
a variety of plants. And be sure to select different plants that
bloom and fruit at different times throughout the season.
You
can also add bird houses and bird feeders to your yard to attract even
more birds. Black oil sunflower seeds attract many birds, including
titmouse, nuthatch and chickadee. Finches and pine siskins love
thistle; this include goldfinches, purple finches and house finches. You
can place plain suet in a suet feeder for woodpeckers and wrens. And
stunning neon orange and black orioles love citrus fruit on a nail.
You
can also add a water feature, such as a birdbath, saucer or backyard
pond. Butterflies will sip water from very shallow depressions
in rocks. Place rocks with tiny reservoirs as decoration throughout
your garden; when you water the garden, water will collect on the rocks,
which will attract butterflies.
And
you shouldn’t use pesticides, insecticides or herbicides of any
kind in your yard. Birds, and especially butterflies, are extremely
sensitive to them. They will either avoid your yard, or worse yet,
die or become ill if they visit it.
If
you’re not allergic to bees, you might be interested in attracting
these beneficial creatures to your yard as well. Most bees in the
U.S. are solitary, friendly bees. They nest in holes in the ground
or bore into twigs and dead tree limbs. They don’t have hives
to protect, so they’re not aggressive. They pollinate many
different kinds of plants. If it weren’t for bees, you wouldn’t
eat almonds or cherries. As a matter of fact, 30 percent of the
human diet is made possible by bees! Bees can increase the quality
and quantity of any fruits and vegetables that you grow.
Plants for Bees
Bees
like almost all flowering plants. Blue and yellow flowers are their
very favorite.
You
can also make a bee house with scrap lumber. Use a piece of wood
that’s about three to five inches thick. Drill holes about
1/8 to 5/16-inch in diameter about 90 percent of the way into the block. Space
the holes about ½ inch to ¾ inch apart. Hang the
block under the eaves of your house or shed, out of direct sun and rain. The
5/16- inch holes work great for orchard bees, who pollinate fruit trees. That’s
good news if you have any apple, pear, peach or cherry trees!
With
the beauty of your garden accented by beautiful birds and butterflies,
you’ll think you’re in the garden of Eden!
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